Project X

by Watkins, TM

  I grinned, incredibly happy with the revelation. Now I would be able to plot and plan the various levels.

  Well then Mr Gallagher, I look forward to delivering your mail. Good night.

  Not so shockingly, a text came back fast. I don't know if I should be concerned or delighted.

  I look forward to receiving it. Sleep well.

  Part 2: Playing the game

  To play the game properly, one must ensure that

  they are aware of all of the players. Otherwise they

  will walk right into the trap. But not all traps are bad,

  sometimes they are lined with honey.

  Chapter 9: Jack of all trades

  Amber tapped on the magna doodle with a deep scowl.

  He's trying to trap you, be careful!

  I rolled my eyes as she continued to scowl at me, I huffed feeling rather defeated.

  “Fine. I have to go or I will be late.”

  The bus was early but luckily there was a queue of people to get on. I had barely made it even if I did run the entire way. Ambers constant need to write on that damned board instead of just saying it was becoming more frustrating and had made me late. I would have to get up earlier just to have a conversation with her.

  Amber was wrong, it wasn't him that was trying to trap me, it was the other way around. I wanted him to fall for the bait and give me the access to that vault with little issue. But would he fall for it or would I end up pulling a late nighter and break into the place?

  I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I had missed my stop. If it wasn't for the flash of light reflecting off the glass of the building, I would have been blissfully unaware. Luckily for me, the next stop was only a brisk walk from where I needed to be. Madelyn Cooper was waiting for me when I entered the lobby, by her side was a young man who was looking like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was. He scratched at his mousy brown hair as he leaned on the security desk.

  “Good morning Miss Ryan, congratulations on getting the job.”

  “Thank you Mrs Cooper.”

  She smiled politely and turned to the young man beside her.

  “This is Jack, you are taking his job and he is moving upstairs to a research position. He will guide you for today and then it's into the deep for you.”

  He nodded his hello at me, rather indifferent and more interested in the brunette that passed us.

  “Right, this is for you.” She passed a thick white envelope to me. “Fill out your details and return it to me tomorrow. You need to get your security pass done so one of the guards can do that for you.”

  I took a quick peek into the envelope as I followed the line of the desk to the security guard’s office. The envelope had an employee information form, a map of the ground floor amenities and a rather thick document about the rules. After the photo for the security pass was done, I was given a tour of the ground floor while the security pass was being made. Madelyn had disappeared, leaving me with the far too casual Jack. He was relaxed and sluggish in his movements, almost like he was stoned.

  We moved to the left of the guard’s desk, a set of frosted glass doors beside the doors to the green corridor. This was a more laid back section of the building; it wasn't so refined as the lobby but it was still ostentatious for the staff amenities. First was the locker room for the staff, lockers for their personal effects. There was no taking of mobile phones past this point. Jack waited outside for me as I entered the female section, following his directions to where my locker was located. It was at the far end of the room and using the instructions in my envelope, I made my own code for the access panel. All of them were the same, a locker with a keypad to lock it and the person's name written on it.

  The cafeteria was shown with a flick of the wrist and his muttering that there was a card payment scheme that was attached to the security card if I was ever hungry and short on cash. All of the information on it was in my welcome to the club envelope which I had left in the locker. After the rather short tour of the ground floor amenities, we returned to the security desk to pick up my pass. We had to test it to ensure there were no issues, confirming that it would be smooth sailing for me tomorrow when I was going solo. Access to the mail room was a doorway behind the water fall, I stood in the tiny corridor behind Jack who was talking about delivery trucks and elevators. My eyes darted to the left of us, to a rather sleek looking elevator. It was one that I hadn't seen earlier, tucked off to the other side of the waterfall it was hidden from the view of the lobby.

  “Where does that elevator go?”

  “Up to management. You can use it if you are hand delivering something but not with the trolley. Never with the trolley, they have this thing about the mail trolley in their expensive elevator.”

  The door opened with a buzz and we walked into another stark white room. The view beyond the small corridor was of an open area, beside us was two doors on each side.

  “Okay, so your own personal toilet and wash basin.” Jack flicked his hand to the right and then to the left. “Mini staff room. It was designed to house a few people but management deemed it was unnecessary.” He shrugged.

  We continued to the open area, to the right was a large bank style window with a view out to what could only be another area of the lobby. The counter was heavily worn and as I got closer to the window, it looked like it had seen better days too.

  “That's getting fixed today, the pivot on the window broke rendering it almost useless. So that's where the impatient people wait for their mail. It's ideal to try and get on your way by ten but sometimes it's nearly impossible. The delivery guy is always late and then people are at the window complaining that their mail isn't already in their hands.”

  Jack rolled his eyes as one of them appeared at the window.

  “Broken.” He tapped on the window. “Go back to your area, we are on it.”

  The man walked off in a huff and Jack sniggered.

  “Don't take their crap, unless it's marked urgent then it can wait until you get to their floor. So, all of your supplies are here.”

  He gestured to the draws and cupboards below the counter, opening them to reveal boxes of envelopes, packages and tubes, anything that the snail mailer could want.

  “The stationery dude will drop these off, you just need to let him know when you are getting low. No doubt he will just help himself into the room and check for you anyway, so don't stress too much. So this here's a list of everyone that works here, the department they work in. Some people have no clue how to address an envelope and you may just have to get your detective skills happening to figure out where something needs to go.”

  Jack gestured to a small garage door that sat on the next wall.

  “This here's to the store room. The mail will come through here; the store-man will buzz you when it has arrived. Green button to unlock, red to lock. Easy?”

  I nodded. Jack chuckled and pressed the green button, the garage door rattled as it went up.

  “Bobby!” He yelled out.

  A portly fellow poked his head out from a rack of shelves, nodding his head at us. His bushy beard was wiry and grey, his clothes were almost the opposite to everyone else in this place. He was in dirtied high visibility clothes, a glaring bright yellow.

  “This is Kasey.”

  He waived his hello and was distracted by the sound of a truck reversing in.

  “You can't go out to the store room in clothes like that so Bobby will bring everything to you. He's a real stickler for the health and safety rules so don't be a smart ass and go out there, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  Jack pressed the red button and the door rattled its way down and then gestured to the other wall. It was a wall of pigeon holes, all labelled and color coded for the various departments and people's names.

  “Self-explanatory, okay…. Let's get going. You can push the ol' girl around.”

  The metal trolley was stuffed tight with envelopes of all sizes on the top level, the bottom layer
was crammed just as tight with boxes and tubes. Jack stuffed a little booklet into a slot that sat between the handle bar and the cart and another book passing it to me.

  “For a few weeks you might need this, it's a list of the staff members and what floor they are on. Oh and don't forget this.”

  He turned a little sign at the window that said out of the office and grabbed a mobile phone.

  “I thought we weren't allowed phones.”

  “This is an internal phone, it's a direct line to the intercom for the impatient ones when they come looking for their mail. Alright-y, out the door we go.”

  The trolley was hard to push and difficult to maneuver, Jack guided me to the service elevator. It was the only one that I was allowed to use when pushing the trolley. It wasn't exactly the fastest of elevators and he suggested that if I had to deliver something urgent to take the parcel by hand and use the one of the other elevators. Jack waited patiently as I used the card and pressed the button for the first floor. This was the test he was waiting for, to check the card was working properly. The first floor was a restricted floor for the scientists and it could not be accessed without a card. It worked perfectly fine, making Jack a happy man. The doors opened out to a small reception area that was unmanned. Like the mail room downstairs, it was a counter with a locked door beside it.

  “Just push the trolley half way out to keep the elevator here. Press the button and someone will come and take the mail from you.”

  I grabbed all of the mail for level one and took it to the counter, pressing the button. A middle aged woman came over, behind the glasses and the lab coat was a pretty woman who looked tired. She took the mail with a smile but there were no pleasantries. Jack smiled and pulled the cart back into the elevator as I pressed the button for the next floor.

  “You will learn there are some in this place that you don't need to be nice to or bother to even speak to. There are some in this place that look down on anyone who isn't a doctor or a scientist. Some will give you the time of day and some won't. Don't lose sleep over it.”

  “Sure.”

  The next floor was the research department, Jack's eyes beamed happiness as the doors opened.

  “Is this where you will be tomorrow?”

  He nodded as I pushed the cart through the corridor, stopping at the first set of cubicles. Already his name was on a plaque, ready and waiting for him. Jack Ellis. The path around the second floor was in a circle shape, easily plotted and navigated. As we ventured back into the elevator, I looked at the numbers. It only went as high as thirty. I said nothing, not wanting to arouse suspicion but I knew that this was a lie. There had to be more floors, the memo said that the documents were to be taken to floor thirty-five. I wondered if the other elevator held access to the remaining floors.

  We had just delivered the mail to floor twenty-nine, the trolley was a lot easier to push around now that it wasn't weighed down with the mail. I looked at the last of the mail, noting there was an envelope at the top of the bundle for Dorian.

  As the doors slid open to a large reception area, I marveled at the opulence. The wall behind the reception desk was a dark brown, it almost looked like it was marble. To the right was a view over the city, the glass spanned the entire wall giving an amazing view of the world beyond. Beside the grand wall behind the creamy colored reception desk was a solitary door, plain and simple I figured it held the amenities. To the left of the reception desk was a set of double doors that were closed and a glass door that showed off the meeting room behind it.

  I grabbed the mail as Jack pushed the trolley over the elevator doors. I had to refrain from showing emotions but I was a little annoyed that this was as far as we were going.

  The woman behind the reception desk was wearing a dark blue jacket, a creamy colored camisole below. She looked up at me with a smile, more picture perfect looks. Brunette, fine features, immaculate clothes and to top it all off, pearls that looked like they would cost several weeks’ wage.

  “You must be Kasey. I'm Amy.”

  “Hi.”

  My eyes darted around the room as I walked closer to her.

  “I can take those from you.” She smiled sweetly at me.

  “Sure, thanks.”

  I passed them over reluctantly though I thought it would probably show as first day nerves to her.

  “Have a good day. And welcome to the family.”

  “Uh, thanks.”

  The doors slid closed as Jack chuckled.

  “What?”

  “You. You are very funny.”

  “How so?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Okay so I'll lay it out for you. In areas like that, where you see the receptionist and no one else, that's all you are going to see. No boss man.”

  I shrugged feigning indifference.

  “Don't really care. Have you met the boss man?”

  “Never.” He scoffed. “Just the mindless plebe, didn't you know? People like us don't get to see the likes of him until we're in upper management.”

  Oh my mind thought curiously. If that was the case then how come I was stalked by the boss man yesterday and confronted twice, only to have him interview me in a gentleman's club and then drive me home? Ambers warning about Dorian trying to trap me was swirling through my mind. Maybe I should listen to Amber more often.

  Chapter 10: Eye spy with my little eye

  Lunch time was bliss on my sore feet, I was glad that I wore flat shoes instead of trying to impress the nobodies at this place. I sat in the cafeteria with my lunch and my phone, this was one of those areas where the phone was allowed. I had been scrolling through the website for the local newspaper when a text came through. It caused all sorts of mixed emotions but anxiety was winning over. I opened the message from Dorian.

  Eye spy with my little eye….

  My heart sunk into the pit of my stomach, had he figured me out? A figure darkened the corridor just outside of the cafeteria, I looked up and saw Dorian standing there watching me. He flicked his head with a slight smirk and then walked away. I quickly gathered up my rubbish and dumped it into the bin, scurrying out of the room and into the corridor. Dorian was at the far end, he had stopped momentarily to ensure that I was following him and then turned towards the toilets. I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted, I was following him out of curiosity more so than because he requested me to.

  When I turned the corner he was already at the end, past the doors to the bathroom and at a door labelled restricted. He pressed some buttons on the keypad beside the door and pushed it open, waiting for me to pass through. This was crazy, not only was I following him into a restricted area but he knew I still had my phone with me. Not that I would take photos with him watching my every movement.

  I walked into a room of pure black, the air around me was a little warmer than the rest of the place. Dorian shut the door behind us with a clicking sound that I knew was the door relocking itself. I could feel him moving closer, the soft fall and rise as he breathed, the warmth of his presence.

  “Miss Ryan.” His voice was soft and smooth, far too close for my liking. “How did you find your first morning of work here?”

  “Tiring but eventful. I liked it. Is there a light or something? It's a bit hard to see in the dark.”

  The soft patter of his laughter surrounded me, stalking me, closing in on me. I backed away and hit something hard, rattling glass against each other.

  “Now why would you want that?” He whispered.

  I could feel his breath on my neck, the words slowly being whispered to my jaw. As the sharp bite of his stubble grazed over my skin, I could smell the intoxicating scent of his aftershave.

  “I was disappointed that you didn't hand deliver my mail this morning Miss Ryan.”

  “Amy.” I breathed out, sounding more like a whimper. “She said she would take it.”

  My mind flooded with delirious sensations, I had never encountered someone like this before. Someone that could affect me so easily and
he hadn't even touched me.

  “Is that right? Well I guess I will have to be waiting for you then. I'd hate to miss out two days in a row.”

  “Why were you stalking me yesterday? And the interview at the club?”

  “Because I can.”

  The soft sounds of fabric shifting filled the void, whatever it was that I was leaning on groaned just a little as Dorian leaned against it, moving even closer to me.

  “Why do you care?”

  “Jack said that no one below upper management has met the boss man.”

  Finally, he touched me, I stifled the whimper but in a quiet room it was hard to do. His hand was around my neck, this thumb traced over my wind pipe.

  “Well that can't be true, can it? You've met the boss man; did you tell him that?”

  “No.”

  His hand slipped down my neck and over my shoulder, the warmth of his breath moved from my jaw to my lips. Barely hovering over them, I could feel how close they were without even seeing a thing.

  “Well aren't you the good little secret keeper? Maybe you're too good for the mail room. Maybe I might just have to find somewhere better for you. What do you think Miss Ryan?”

  As he spoke the soft flesh of his lips traced over mine, sending a spark through me. This was hell. I wish that he would just get it over and done with, put me out of my misery.

  “Miss Ryan, are you in there?”

  “Yes.” I whispered.

  I could hear the humor in his voice as he teased me, taunting me with every single word.

  “I could drag this out all afternoon, what would you say to that?”

  “That you are cruel.”

  He chuckled darkly, pulling away from me and leaving me bereft of his almost-there touch.

  “Well then, tell me what you think. Somewhere better for Miss Ryan or remaining in the mail room?”

  Dorian was closer again, teasing and taunting as he dragged out each of the words.

  “Somewhere better.”